No knead bread and clay pots

Well, the postal service seems very efficient post cyclone, as my second clay pot has arrived from the USA.  This is a hand made pot specifically made for the no knead bread recipe.  The recipe was developed by trial and error, in an attempt to get a European-style crust in a conventional oven.  Some have hailed it as the greatest breakthrough in bread technology in hundreds of years.  From the first attempt I made, I would have to agree.

Here are some photos of the pot.

The second picture is the bread proverb written inside the lid, which differs for each pot.  It's a really nice touch.  The pots are made by a lady called Judy Motzkin.  You can read about them and order them here:  Judy Motzkin's no knead bread pots

The recipe is simple.  There are lots of links to this style of breadmaking, the first I found was in the New York Times: Jim Lahey's no knead bread

Ingredients


3 cups strong white flour
1 and 1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp yeast
1 and 5/8 cups water

Mix everything together in a glass bowl for about a minute.  You can use a knife, I have found the best thing is a rigid silicon spatula because it's easy to clean.  The dough will look rough and sticky and  pretty ragged.  If you don't mix it well though, you can get hard lumps of flour in the final result.  It should come together pretty quickly.  As I live in the tropics I use iced water, as I want the yeast to act slowly.

Cover tightly with cling film and leave for 12-18 hours at room temperature, about 20 C is ideal.  It should look very bubbly.  Scrape it out onto a lightly floured surface, sprinkle lightly with flour, and with floured hands (because the dough is sticky) fold it over once or twice.  Leave covered with the cling film for 15 minutes, and then shape it into a ball, tucking all the edges underneath.  Place it on a heavily floured tea towel (a linen one, not a towelling one), with the folded edges underneath.  Flour the top of the dough, and cover with cling film or a tea towel and leave for 2-3 hours to rise again.

Pre-heat the oven to 230 C.  You will need a cast iron casserole eg Le Creuset, or an ovenproof ceramic bowl with a lid eg Romertopf.  You could even use a corning ware glass mixing bowl.  Cast iron pots are easier, because you can put them into a hot oven.  If you use glass or ceramic, you need to put them in a cold oven and heat it up, otherwise they will crack.  If handling glass or ceramic, avoid sudden changes in temperature.  Put them into a folded tea towel or wooden chopping board if they're straight from the oven, don't put them on a cold surface.  The pot should be at 230C for at least 30 minutes before it's ready to start baking.

Take the hot out out of the oven.  Pick up the dough by placing your hand under the tea towel, and upend it, upside down, into the hot pot.  Don't burn yourself.  Don't worry if it looks collapsed and awful, all will be well.  If it's not central, give the pot a shake to centralise it.  Put the lid on top, place it back in the oven for 30 minutes.  Then take the lid off, and leave for another 20-30 minutes until brown and crunchy.  Magically, the dough does not stick to the hot surface and it comes out easily.

Even if it's a bit lopsided, looks uneven, does not rise as much as expected, your worst effort will taste better then any other bread you have eaten.  I love this recipe and it's fun to cook it in different containers, or use different flours, to get great results.

The long proofing time makes the bread taste exceptional, with sourdough overtones and a delicious crust.